One of the first things a person notices about your house is your lawn. Do you have great curb-appeal, or does your lawn need a little help? Here you will find what you need to know about lawn seeding. Knowing how to properly seed is important, whether you’re fixing up an existing lawn or starting from scratch. When done correctly, you can have the beautiful yard you’ve always wanted.
Preparation is Key
Before you can begin seeding your lawn, you must make sure that your soil is ready for it. Good soil is imperative to the success of your seeding. Not only should the soil have proper drainage, it must also have the right chemistry, in order for grass seeds to germinate.
To begin preparing your soil, assess the condition it is in. If you already have rich, healthy soil, dig or till to a 3-inch depth, rake out clumps and clods, and then grade the soil to a smooth and level surface. Soil that consists mainly of sand or clay may need a think layer of topsoil, compost, manure or peat moss added on top. Loose soil might need to be rolled in order to make it firmer.
As stated earlier, however, it is important that the soil has the right chemistry, for the seeds to germinate. Most turfgrass prefers neutral soil, but some soils need help in getting there. Neutral soil generally has a pH between 6.0 and 7.5. Acidic soil (below 6.0), usually found in cooler wet climates, can be treated with lime to increase its neutrality. Use naturally acidic peat moss to treat mildly alkaline soil (between 7.5 to 8.0). Highly alkaline soil (greater than 8.0), found in hot, dry climates, need to be treated with sulfur. If you are unsure about the neutrality of your lawn, perform a soil test.
All soil can benefit from fertilizer, so make sure you do this before seeding. Stick with a starter fertilizer and be sure to avoid using any products to control weeds. Using any weed killers can interfere with your seed, either preventing it from germinating or killing it completely.
Know Your Grass
Certain types of grasses only thrive in certain regions, so it’s important to know the type of turf currently growing in your lawn. There are 3 main types of grass seed: cool season, warm season and transitional.
Cool season grasses are seeded mid-August through mid-October, grow best during the spring or fall, and are used extensively throughout northern areas of the United States. They thrive best in areas where temperatures reach below freezing during the winter. Major cool season varieties include Bluegrass, Fescues, Bentgrass and Ryegrass.
Warm season grasses are seeded from March through September, grow best during the summer, and are used extensively throughout southern areas of the United States. Major varieties of these include Bermuda, Bahia, Centipede, Carpetgrass, St. Augustine and Zoysia.
Transitional grasses are nothing more than warm or cool season grasses. Often times, they are specific mixtures of different types of grasses, meant to thrive in both climates.
If you’re considering laying sod, it basically comes down to your patience level and the amount of money you have to spend. The nice thing about laying sod is that it can be done almost all-year round, giving you an automatic lawn, where seed planting is seasonal and takes some time to grow. With that said, sod is much more expensive than seed, so if you’re not in a huge hurry and would like to save the extra money, then seed is the way to go.
How to Seed Your Lawn
There are some variations, but overall, the basic principles are the same, whether you are starting a new lawn or have an established one.
If you are seeding a new lawn, you will have already prepared the soil. Once the soil is prepared, spread the seed, sowing half of the seeds in one direction, and the other half at a right angle, to ensure even coverage. Rake it in, roll the soil with a weighted lawn roller, and then mulch with straw. Water frequently, but avoid saturating. When the grass reaches about an inch in height, you can cut back the watering. Mow once grass reaches between 2 ½ to 3 inches. Once the lawn has been mowed 3 times, a regular watering schedule of 1 inch per week can commence.
If you are overseeding an existing lawn, cut the grass shorter than usual, rake to thin the turf out, aerate, amend with compost and add fertilizer. Once these steps are completed, apply the seed, rake it in and then add mulch, compost or peat moss.
To fix bare spots, remove dead grass, loosen the soil, spread the grass seed, rake it in and then mulch with straw. Pests can create bare spots in a yard, so before you go through the process of seeding, make sure that seeding is what actually needs to be done.
